Yevamos 122a

יבמות קכ״ב ע״א

Yevamot 122a

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Topic

Lenient evidence for letting an עגונה remarry: a גוי's offhand remark, a בת קול, one witness, and a woman's testimony

Overview

The amud opens by finishing a story about a woman whose husband's death was reported by a גוי. רב יוסף rules from a ברייתא that a גוי with a motive, like a fruit seller praising his goods, is not believed. Three stories then show a גוי who mentions a death innocently, out of sadness, and is believed. A new משנה lets a woman remarry based on testimony by dim light, or on a voice whose speaker cannot be seen. The גמרא shows this follows בית הלל. It then asks whether the voice might have come from a שד, settling the question with a 'shadow of a shadow', and whether it might have been a scheming צרה. The next משנה tells how a tradition from רבן גמליאל הזקן allowed remarriage based on one witness, and how the practice spread to weaker witnesses. רבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע disagree, and רבי עקיבא excludes a woman, a slave and relatives. The גמרא explains that רבי עקיבא's position changed once the practice was established. The amud ends with the innkeeper story, which רבי עקיבא answers by pointing to her physical proof.

Opening lines

The steps (33)

1. StatementThe woman is sent to רב יוסף
2. Proofרב יוסף rules from the case of the fruit seller
3. Proofאבא יודן's story: the Jew who died on the road
4. ProofSecond story: the chained prisoners going to Antioch
5. ProofThird story: the sixty men going to ביתר
6. StatementThe משנה: testimony by dim light and by a voice
7. ProofThe story of the voice on the mountain top
8. ProofThe story in צלמון of the man bitten by a snake
9. StatementA ברייתא: בית שמאי and בית הלל argue about a בת קול
10. ChallengeWhy did רבה בר שמואל need to teach this?
11. ResolutionAn unnamed strict source follows בית שמאי
12. ChallengeMaybe the voice on the mountain was a שד
13. ResolutionThey saw a human form
14. ChallengeBut שדים can look like people too
15. ResolutionThey saw that he cast a shadow
16. ChallengeDemons also have shadows
17. ResolutionThey saw a shadow of a shadow
18. ChallengeMaybe demons have a shadow of a shadow too
19. ResolutionTestimony that demons lack a shadow of a shadow
20. ChallengeMaybe it was a rival wife
21. ResolutionIn times of danger we are not so suspicious
22. Statementרבי עקיבא meets נחמיה in נהרדעא
23. Statementנחמיה's tradition from רבן גמליאל הזקן
24. Conclusionרבן גמליאל rejoices at the support
25. Statementרבן גמליאל remembers the case of תל ארזא
26. StatementThe practice spreads to weaker kinds of witnesses
27. Statementרבי אליעזר and רבי יהושע reject one witness
28. Statementרבי עקיבא excludes women, slaves, and relatives
29. ChallengeDoes רבי עקיבא really not trust a woman?
30. ResolutionBefore and after the practice was established
31. ProofThe story of the Levites and the innkeeper
32. ChallengeShouldn't a respectable woman be trusted like the innkeeper?
33. RejectionThe innkeeper was believed because she had physical proof